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dhasenkampf 's review for:
The Never-Ending End of the World
by Ann Christy
I went into this book hopeful but came out slightly disappointed by the end.
First, the good stuff. I was really excited when the book first started and our protagonist is 51 years old. Older characters are severely underrepresented in sci fi and I for one am tired of reading about the 19-year-old trying to survive the apocalypse. That excitement was somewhat tempered in the next chapter when we travel back to when the MC was a teenager (of course). But at least throughout the book we get to see her over a span of years and not just her nubile beginnings. I also liked the philosophical exploration of what survivors should do next. Two sides were presented and fully explored, and it was refreshing to read about different thoughtful approaches to how to live in this new reality.
Now, the not so good. Cozy fantasy seems to be the new buzzword, and I would categorize this story as cozy post-apocalypse. Nothing feels very dangerous or serious. The stakes don't feel high enough to really get invested in the plot. Part of the problem is the POV characters. Very little actually happens to them. We see changes occurring in their world and interesting developments with other characters, but we are removed from those events. It doesn't draw me in as a reader if the only action is taking place with perspectives that I don't get to see. Next, this book was way too long. A hundred pages could have been edited out, easily, without sacrificing any plot or development. There's just too much repetition. We read the same philosophical thoughts and discussions over and over again. This was intriguing the first time. 200 pages later I've got all the nuance down and I'm just dying for something to actually happen. My favorite part of the entire book was actually the epilogue. That felt like the most action and character depth of the entire story. My final critique is the lack of any real answer in the end. There's really no explanation of what happened to cause this pause in time and there's no explanation of what's done to fix it. For the cause we get some science mumbo-jumbo that doesn't actually say much. And the solution almost veers into the magical. I'd like a little more science in my science fiction reading.
Overall, this book was okay. I started off really liking it, but it was just too long with not enough action to sustain my interest. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
First, the good stuff. I was really excited when the book first started and our protagonist is 51 years old. Older characters are severely underrepresented in sci fi and I for one am tired of reading about the 19-year-old trying to survive the apocalypse. That excitement was somewhat tempered in the next chapter when we travel back to when the MC was a teenager (of course). But at least throughout the book we get to see her over a span of years and not just her nubile beginnings. I also liked the philosophical exploration of what survivors should do next. Two sides were presented and fully explored, and it was refreshing to read about different thoughtful approaches to how to live in this new reality.
Now, the not so good. Cozy fantasy seems to be the new buzzword, and I would categorize this story as cozy post-apocalypse. Nothing feels very dangerous or serious. The stakes don't feel high enough to really get invested in the plot. Part of the problem is the POV characters. Very little actually happens to them. We see changes occurring in their world and interesting developments with other characters, but we are removed from those events. It doesn't draw me in as a reader if the only action is taking place with perspectives that I don't get to see. Next, this book was way too long. A hundred pages could have been edited out, easily, without sacrificing any plot or development. There's just too much repetition. We read the same philosophical thoughts and discussions over and over again. This was intriguing the first time. 200 pages later I've got all the nuance down and I'm just dying for something to actually happen. My favorite part of the entire book was actually the epilogue. That felt like the most action and character depth of the entire story. My final critique is the lack of any real answer in the end. There's really no explanation of what happened to cause this pause in time and there's no explanation of what's done to fix it. For the cause we get some science mumbo-jumbo that doesn't actually say much. And the solution almost veers into the magical. I'd like a little more science in my science fiction reading.
Overall, this book was okay. I started off really liking it, but it was just too long with not enough action to sustain my interest. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.